First off, a big Happy Birthday to Chuck Berry. One of the great pioneers of rock n' roll is 87 years old today!! Big ups to you Chuck!
And now back The Friday Five.
UB40-One in Ten:
This song is from their second of eighteen (?!?!?) albums. The album is called Present Arms and was released in 1981. The song has to do with the percentage of workforce filing for unemployment (9.6%) in West Midlands in the summer of 1981, when the song was released. The video is them performing the song on Top of Pops that same year.
KOPECKY FAMILY BAND-Heartbeat:
Not a family. Horrible video. Incredibly addicting song. You've been warned.
IDES OF MARCH-Vehicle:
Its songs like this that makes Shazam so great. I've probably heard this song more than 1,000 times over my lifetime but never knew the band. I think I just always just thought it was Chicago. Nope, its the Ides of March who oddly enough are from Berwyn, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
FLETCHER C. JOHNSON-Messin Up My Mind:
I actually Shazamed this song twice in the last week, I think both times from Little Stevens Underground Garage station on Sirius. These dudes look to be from Brooklyn and much like Kopecky Family Band, the video almost makes you want to not like them. The epic ending saves it.
NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS-Turn Up Satan:
This song is from their sixteenth album, World Boogie Is Coming, which was released last month. This 3 man band from Hernado, Mississippi has been tooling around since 2000. I've never really thought to listen to their music but damn, I've been missing out. This is some killer music. Sixteen releases? Where the hell have I been? I've got some catching up to do. Loving this sound. A few cool tidbits about this band. One guy plays an electric washboard as well as something called a 'lowebow', also called a cigar box guitar. This is a cigar box with two rod sticking out, one for one bass string and one for one acoustic string. It was created for a one-man band in mind.
